ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 4
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Boley
By Request of the Executive)
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[Passed July 14, 1996; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to repeal section nine-b, article fifteen, chapter eleven
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact section
nine-d of said article, all relating to repealing the
current method for claiming exemptions, refunds of tax and
credits against other taxes; providing for direct pay
permits; validity of permit; promulgation of rules by the
tax commissioner; filing of monthly returns by the permit
holder along with remittance of the tax due; permitting
quarterly or annual returns in lieu of the monthly returns;
extensions of payment with interest; automatic renewal of the permit; notifying the vendor of the direct payment
number; maintenance of records by the vendor; and
expiration, cancellation or surrender of a direct pay
permit.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine-b, article fifteen, chapter eleven of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be repealed; and that section nine-d of said article be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. CONSUMERS SALES TAX.
§11-15-9d. Direct pay permits.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the
tax commissioner may, pursuant to rules promulgated by him or her
in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code, authorize a person that is a user, consumer, distributor or
lessee to which sales or leases of tangible personal property are
made or services provided, to pay any tax levied by this article
or article fifteen-a of this chapter directly to the tax
commissioner and waive the collection of the tax by that person's
vendor. No such authority shall be granted or exercised except
upon application to the tax commissioner and after issuance by the tax commissioner of a direct pay permit. Each direct pay
permit granted pursuant to this section is valid until
surrendered by the holder or canceled for cause by the
commissioner. The commissioner shall prescribe by rules
promulgated in accordance with article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, those activities which will cause
cancellation of a direct pay permit issued pursuant to this
section. Upon issuance of a direct pay permit, payment of the
tax imposed or assertion of the exemptions allowed by this
article or article fifteen-a of this chapter on sales and leases
of tangible personal property and sales of taxable services from
the vendors of the personal property or services shall be made
directly to the tax commissioner by the permit holder.
(b) On or before the fifteenth day of each month, every
permit holder shall make and file with the tax commissioner a
consumers sales and use tax direct pay permit return for the
preceding month in the form prescribed by the tax commissioner
showing the total value of the tangible personal property used,
the amount of taxable services purchased, the amount of consumers
sales and use taxes due from the permit holder, which shall be paid to the tax commissioner with the return, and such other
information as the tax commissioner considers necessary:
Provided, That if the amount of consumers sales and use taxes due
averages less than one hundred dollars per month, the tax
commissioner may permit the filing of quarterly returns in lieu
of monthly returns and the amount of tax shown on the returns to
be due shall be remitted on or before the fifteenth day following
the close of the calendar quarter; and if the amount due averages
less than fifty dollars per calendar quarter, the tax
commissioner may permit the filing of an annual direct pay permit
return and the amount of tax shown on the return to be due shall
be remitted on or before the last day of January each year. The
tax commissioner, upon written request by the permit holder, may
grant a reasonable extension of time, upon such terms as the tax
commissioner may require, for the making and filing of direct pay
permit returns and paying the tax due. Interest on the tax shall
be chargeable on every extended payment at the rate specified in
section seventeen, article ten of this chapter.
(c) A permit issued pursuant to this section is valid until
expiration of the taxpayers registration year under article twelve of this chapter. This permit shall automatically be
renewed when the taxpayers business registration certificate is
issued for the next succeeding fiscal year, unless the permit is
surrendered by the holder or canceled for cause by the tax
commissioner.
(d) Persons who hold a direct payment permit which has not
been canceled are not required to pay the tax to the vendor as
otherwise provided in this article or article fifteen-a of this
chapter. They shall notify each vendor from whom tangible
personal property is purchased or leased or from whom services
are purchased of their direct payment permit number and that the
tax is being paid directly to the tax commissioner. Upon receipt
of the notice, the vendor is absolved from all duties and
liabilities imposed by this chapter for the collection and
remittance of the tax with respect to sales of tangible personal
property and sales of services to the permit holder. Vendors who
make sales upon which the tax is not collected by reason of the
provisions of this section shall maintain records in such manner
that the amount involved and identity of each purchaser may be
ascertained.
(e) Upon the expiration, cancellation or surrender of a
direct payment permit, the provisions of this chapter, without
regard to this section, shall thereafter apply to the person who
previously held the permit, and that person shall promptly notify
in writing vendors from whom tangible personal property or
services are purchased or leased of the cancellation or
surrender. Upon receipt of the notice, the vendor is subject to
the provisions of this chapter, without regard to this section,
with respect to all sales, distributions, leases or storage of
tangible personal property, thereafter made to or for that
person.